Love Hurts
by Bunny Fair
Summary: All good things must come to an end. And sometimes, those endings absolutely hurt. They hurt more than any sword or gun or spell. Titus hasn't fallen to a mere weapon in years. But for her? He would go down on his knees to stop her tears any day. Except this time, the tears were his fault. And he couldn't do anything to stop them
1. Chapter 1

Titus stared down at the burning Insomnia, smoke stinging his eyes. He blinked rapidly, letting his helmet mold around his head. He took a deep breath and knelt down, letting his vision adjust to the red tint.

Nyx was with Luna, doing everything in his willpower to keep her safe and alive. He was a hell of a fighter and he wouldn't be on a one way street to getting himself killed. Damn him, Nyx. Damn him all the way to the Astrals.

He straightened up and gripped his sword, stepping off the ledge to let himself fall to the ground below before hearing a panicked scream. He frowned at the familiarity of it and quickly adjusted his course, throwing himself into the MT's surrounding the young woman.

His sword sliced through them easily and he stared down at the woman, breathing heavily as he stared down at her, frozen in place. She wasn't supposed to be here! She was supposed to be safe and away from here!

Alice stared up at General Glauca, her short sword clattering to the ground as she fell back onto her ass. Her stomach dropped to her throat and she fumbled to grab her sword, her wide eyes staring up at him. She just wanted to help save some people, not get caught like this.

Time seemed frozen around them, their eyes interlocked. He still held his sword, oil dripping off of it and hitting the frightfully cold ground. She still sat on the ground, her hand reaching blindly for her small sword.

Slowly he began to shift, pulling back to stand straight before she ripped her eyes away, quickly looking around before diving for her sword. Grabbing it, she yelped when his armored hand gripped her forearm, the sharp edges threatening to make her bleed. She dropped her sword and looked up at him, fear swimming in her eyes.

He merely held her arm, his sword resting at his side. He lowly spoke, "You shouldn't be here."

She shook her head slightly, swallowing thickly. "I - I had to help."

He tightened his grip, blood slowly ebbing out of the wounds and down her arm. "You shouldn't be here, princess."

She sunk down to her knees, her arm still in his grip, as she realized who was under the armor. Her lower lip trembled, her eyes watered, making his heart twist. "Ti - Titus? You, you're, you're - "

He nodded, letting his armor sink back into his skin as he knelt down. "I cannot serve under a king I loathe."

She pressed her face in his hands, shaking her head slightly. "But, what about us? What about me and Cor? The glaive? Don't you, didn't you.. did you ever love us?"

He cupped her cheeks, wiping away her tears with his thumbs. "Shh, shh. I love you, I've always loved you and Cor. The glaive too. Do not think I did not love either of you any less."

She wrapped her arms around herself, hanging her head as her shoulders shook. Her head slowly shook side to side, her short ponytail trailing against her neck. "No."

He shook his head and wrapped his arms around her, clenching his eyes shut. "You weren't supposed to be here, not in this chaos. You weren't supposed to see this. You should be safe, away from this."

She beat her palms against his chest, pressing her face against the smooth leather to scream into it. He held her, as she beat against him and sreamed obscenities at him. A small tear escaped, disappearing into his short beard as she yelled her curses at him.

He merely took her verbal abuse, holding her close and petting her back. Once she quieted into hiccups and sniffles, he pressed his lips to her temple. He slowly rocked her side to side, keeping his lips to her temple.

"I cannot apologize enough for this. Please, I always loved you both. It was genuine love, from the very first time I saw you. You two made me happier than I could ever dream of being, you made my life worth living."

She sniffled, curling her fingers in the familiar dark red leather. "Then why? Why not leave them? Come with us, Cor will understand. He might stab you a little, but he'll understand. Please, come home with us. We love you, Titus. I love you. Please, please, don't continue this. We can help."

He tightened his grip, pressing his face into her shoulder. She only held him tighter, wrapping her arms around his broad chest. Her fingertips barely touched, they never did, but even now her hug was as warm as ever.

He softly mumbled, "If I could, I would do this over. But it's too late, Alice. What's done is done."

She sobbed, tightening her grip further as she pressed her face in his chest. "Please, Titus, please. We'll forgive you, I forgive you, come home to us."

He tightened his grip on her waist, taking a deep breath. "Do me a favor?"

She nodded slightly, curling her fingers in his shirt, her voice trembling, "Anything you want."

He gently cupped her cheek, leaning back to press his lips to hers in a short kiss. She continued to cling to him, fearing he would slip away even as they slowly kissed. He rubbed her cheek with his thumb, wiping her tears away with his forever bloodstained hands.

He slowly pulled back, feeling another tear streak down. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a simple silver chain, two rings of different sizes on it. "These were for you and Cor. Wear it for me?"

She nodded slightly, sniffling as she let him pull her hands from him. Her hands trembled, gripping her pants tightly as he carefully undid the clasp to slip the small ring into his large palm. He took her left hand and kissed the back of it, forcing a small smile at her own weak giggle.

He slid the ring onto her ring finger and guided the chain around her neck, clasping it with minimal difficulty. "Wear it always and remember the good times we had together."

She nodded slightly, looking over the delicate ring. "I will. And this one is for Cor?"

He nodded, kissing her forehead. "Give it to him, tell him the same. Tell him the truth, he deserves to know."

She sniffled, hugging his neck tightly, pressing her face into his shoulder. "Please."

He closed his eyes as he hugged her small form to him, taking a deep shuddering breathing before softly mumbling, "I love you. I've always loved you. Never change."

She nodded slightly, clenching her eyes shut as his walkie talkie buzzed. "I love you, please, find us. We will forgive you."

They both knew he wouldn't make it out of this city alive, but he nodded, knowing it would be the one promise he ever broke to her. "I will, now go. Go back the way you came. The demon should be coming soon."

She rubbed her eyes and slowly stood up, gripping his forearms as he stood with her. "Please."

He squeezed her hands between his, shaking his head slightly as his eyes burned. "Go, be safe. I've always loved you, I will always love you."

She nodded, pressing her lips to his gloved hands and closing her eyes. He swallowed thickly, closing his eyes as she mumbled a small prayer. He never believed in the gods, but she would always pray for him to return home. To return to her. And he did, he always came home. Sometimes wounded, but home. His home had changed throughout the years, but now, it was her. She was his home.

Alice took a deep breath and finally let his hands go, letting her hands drop to her sides, curling her fingers in her pants. "I love you, Titus. I'll see you in the sunrise."

He smiled crookedly, handing her her sword. "I love you too, Alice. Be safe."

She took the sword and nodded slightly, slowly stepping back before turning on her heel and running off. He clenched his eyes shut, ignoring the annoying buzz of his walkie talkie as her soft footsteps slowly faded.

Titus sat at his desk, sipping some coffee as he glanced over a report. Who knew being captain of the glaive would land him in a desk job? Sure, he went out into the field, but that was only when they were desperate.

He rubbed his eyes, peeking through his fingers at a soft knock on the door. "Enter."

A young woman poked her head in, short blond curls bouncing slightly and bright brown eyes staring at him. "Hi! I have some paperwork from Cor that he wanted you to look at."

He raised an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair. "Are you always so informal with your superiors?"

She softly huffed, walking in slowly with some paperwork tucked into her elbow. "Well, I have been the unofficial - EEP."

He straightened up as she managed to trip over her own feet, landing on her knees and paperwork falling onto the floor. He walked around his desk and raised an eyebrow as she softly muttered, kicking off the short heels angrily. "Are you alright?"

She huffed, turning to gather up the paperwork in reach. "I've been trying to practice walking in heels, but fuck it. I'm gonna be short forever."

He chuckled softly, gathering up some papers and offering his hand to her. "Better than being too tall and not finding pants that fit."

She took his hand and blinked when he easily lifted her to her feet, staring up at him. "Oh, uh, wow you're tall. Oh! I'm Alice Hare!"

He smiled slightly, shaking her hand. "Titus Drautos, or just Drautos."

She smiled widely. "i'm gonna call you Titus."

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, letting her small hand go. Were her hands small, or were his just too large? He often felt too large, but by the faint flush on her cheeks, she must've thought otherwise. Perhaps he could spend some time with her and find out what she thought. Perhaps he would finally have someone who merely saw him as a friend.


	2. Chapter 2

Titus stared at the bright sky, feeling his body ache as he laid in the rubble. He couldn't even drag himself to sit up properly and could barely feel his armor trying to heal. Nyx was gone, faded away into dust in the cool breeze.

He took a deep shuddering breath, closing his eyes. He rested his head back, ready to accept his fate and let death take him. A small tear escaped his eye as he laid there, thinking back on happier times.

He didn't know how much time passed, but the blood on his face had dried and his pain had spiked once the adrenaline passed. The sun began to hurt the exposed skin on his face and he felt the weight of his armor settle on him. Everything hurt.

He squinted when he heard some rubble shifting and slowly turned his head, groaning lowly at the pain. He stopped and tried to look around, his vision half-red. He slowly blinked and let his eyes adjust to the late-afternoon sun. He frowned at soft voices, hearing the rubble shift and roll as footsteps quickened.

His frown grew at a soft gasp, turning his head, before his eyes widened. He swallowed thickly and stared, weakly curling his fingers.

Alice was quickly scurrying down the rubble, her feet sliding ever so slightly, as Cor followed her closely, his sword sheathed in his hand. She stared at him and quickly stumbled over to him, practically falling on top of him. He groaned and clenched his eyes shut, feeling her push herself up quickly.

She leaned over him and her hands hovered over him, tears quickly gathering in her eyes. "Titus? Are you okay? No, you're obviously not okay, but that's okay. Here, I've got some potions, an extra strong one in here somewhere."

He stared as she began to dig in her bag, hearing the glass bottles clink against each other. "What?"

She nodded slightly, focusing on looking in her bag. Cor knelt down on Titus' other side and curled his fingers on the hilt of his blade. "What did you do?"

Titus took a shaky breath, staring up at the man's damp eyes. "I killed Regis, and Clarus. Years ago, I killed the Queen of Tenebrae as well."

Cor closed his eyes tightly and for a moment, all was silent except for Alice digging in the bags, before he snapped, "Alice! No."

She curled her fingers in her bag and shook her head slightly. "No. I don't care."

Cor tightened his grip and glared down at her. "He killed Regis and Clarus. He killed Lunafreya's mother. Let him die."

She glared up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. "No, Cor! I love you, but I love him too! I don't care, he still loves us!"

Titus felt his heart twist painfully. She was still wearing the ring, and the necklace with the other ring still hung from her neck. Cor was also so stubborn.

She swallowed tightly, gripping a potion in her hand. "No. Let him live. If he lives, he has to live with what he's done and what he's ruined."

Cor glared at her and tightened his grip before letting out a deep sigh, his grip looosening and his shoulders slumping. "Fine."

She nodded and uncorked the potion. "Here, drink. Can we get this armor off of you?"

Titus shook his head slightly, letting her tilt the potion back into his mouth and swallowing it obediently. Cor sat back beside him, taking a deep breath. Titus closed his eyes at the cool liquid and softly groaned when the armor began to sink back into his skin.

Alice gasped softly and covered her mouth with her hands, holding the empty bottle. She stared in horror, her eyes wide, and her stomach twisting. She fell back on her ass as he slumped limply onto the rocks and quickly scurried away, holding a hand to her stomach.

Titus flinched at the sound of her spilling her guts and looked up at Cor. "I didn't intend for you to see."

Cor dragged his hand over his face, shaking his head slightly. "No, of course not. She insisted we come back and looked for stragglers or any survivors. We saw Clarus, and Regis. She just happened to wander off and found your dumb ass."

Titus nodded slightly, closing his eyes. "Always wanting to help. I don't deserve her."

Cor frowned and looked down at his hands. "No, you don't. You're starting from rock bottom again with me, even if she does accept you again."

Titus took a deep breath, feeling the dusty air fill his lungs. "I know. Thank you, Cor."

Cor snorted, offering a bottle of water to Alice as he softly muttered, "Don't thank me yet. We've gotta get you into the car and you're walking."

Titus nodded slightly. "Got any painkillers in there?"

Alice nodded, turning to dig in her bag again before digging out a pill bottle. "Yeah, of course. Here, we can go to Lestallum and lay low for a while. Cor, I know you need to help Noctis."

Cor nodded, watching as Alice gave Titus the medicine. "I'll find him and help him after we get Drautos in the car with you."

Alice nodded, stufing everything back in her bag before sliding it back on her back. "That's fine."

Cor nodded and recalled his sword, kneeling down to carefully guide his arm under Titus'. "Now, help me."

Alice moved to help on his other side and Titus started standing up, gripping Cor's shoulder tightly. Titus laid his other arm over Alice's shoulder and stood, taking a deep breath. Alice curled her fingers in the back of his shirt and looked up at him as he leaned more into Cor.

Titus gave her a weak smile and Cor nudged him to start moving, starting the long trek to the car. Titus walked between them, slowing them down, he knew that much. But they had comed back, they had returned to him. Even if he was restarting with Cor from rock bottom. It was worth it to live with them again.


End file.
